In the Bedroom (2001)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Todd Field

Writers:

Andre Dubus (story)
Robert Festinger (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 January 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

A young man. An older woman. Her ex-husband. Things are about to explode...

Plot:

A New England couple's college-aged son dates an older woman with two small children and an unwelcome ex-husband. Then something terrible occurs in this wrenching, emotional drama.

Plot Keywords:

New England | Tragedy | Doctor | Maine | Marriage

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 27 wins & 41 nominations

Cast

Tom Wilkinson	...	Matt Fowler
Sissy Spacek	...	Ruth Fowler
Nick Stahl	...	Frank Fowler
Marisa Tomei	...	Natalie Strout
William Mapother	...	Richard Strout
William Wise	...	Willis Grinnel
Celia Weston	...	Katie Grinnel
Karen Allen	...	Marla Keyes
Frank T. Wells	...	Henry
W. Clapham Murray	...	Carl
Justin Ashforth	...	Tim Bryson
Terry A. Burgess	...	District Attorney
Jonathan Walsh	...	Father McCasslin
Diane E. Hamlin	...	Davis' Assistant
Camden Munson	...	Jason Strout

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence and language.

Runtime:

130 min | USA:138 min (Sundance Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Malaysia:18PL (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | USA:TV-MA (TV rating) | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Brazil:14 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

Belfast, Maine, USA

Company:

Good Machine

Trivia:

Based on the short story "Killings" by Andre Dubus - an American writer who died in 1999. The film is dedicated to him.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Matt is eating in the diner the napkin disappears and reappears underneath the silverware.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Ruth Fowler: Matt, do you want some coffee?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 2002 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards (2002) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Dobro-Dosle

perhaps not my favorite film but a perfect one.

A dark story told with amazing weight and balance, it is cinematically perfect. Aside from the excellent performances by Wilkinson, Spacek and Tomei, it is

Field's film. He uses a deft touch to examine the lives of a couple devastated by loss. The perfection of this film lies in the small touches, the subtle gestures, the powerful symbolism that Field displays throughout. Even the most powerful

moment, the shooting, is done off camera. It isn't so much what you see, its what you don't, what Field implies throughout the film. He creates moments in this movie that convey complex emotion through subtle actions. The film creates

unsettling scenes without being disturbing. Reflections of actors moving as if underwater through their lives, we see them caught in the windows of their

home, ghosts in their house and in their lives, struggling to cope until the film's resolution. Attempting to heal each other and themselves through a single act of redemption that seems at the same time surprising and inevitable. It isn't my favorite movie, but i still think it's as close to a perfect film i've seen.